this is bbc news. i'm shaun ley. the headlines at five: a canadian, kidnapped with his wife and held for nearly five years in afghanistan, speaks for the first time about the ordeal at the hands of the taliban. it's of incredible importance to my family that we are able to build a secure sanctuary for three surviving children to call a home, to focus on edification and to try to regain some portion of the childhood they have lost. tougher sentences for the perpetrators of acid attacks — victims give a cautious welcome to proposals for minimum jail terms. the fear of going to jail is always a deterrent in some way, even if it's a small way. so a start is good, is what i'm saying. there's more that needs to be done, but a start is always good. also in the next hour: the hollywood establishment holds crisis talks over harvey weinstein. oscars officials are meeting to discuss the academy's response to multiple accusations of sexual assault by the founder of miramax. weather forecasters warn that hurricane ophelia is approaching the uk and may bring heavy rain

and gusts of up to 80mph. good afternoon and welcome to bbc news. a canadian man, kidnapped and held for nearly five years in afghanistan along with his pregnant wife, says she was raped and their baby daughter murdered. joshua boyle and caitlin coleman were freed earlier this week, along with three children, all born in captivity. as john mcmanus reports, mr boyle revealed the details after returning home to canada. afghanistan, parts of the country remain in the grip of islamist militants. canadianjoshua boyle and his wife caitlin coleman, came here, he says, to carry out aid work. but instead the couple were kidnapped by members

of a haqqani network linked to the taliban. over five years their captors released a series of videos. one of them showed their children born in captivity. on wednesday, the family were finally freed by pakistani forces. they arrived in toronto late last night where joshua boyle outlined their grim ordeal including the horrific murder of his daughter. the stupidity and the evil of this haqqani network's kidnapping of a pilgrim and his pregnant wife in taliban controlled regions of afghanistan was eclipsed by the stupidity and evil of authorising the murder of my infant daughter. joshua boyle also said his wife was raped by the militants. the canadian government welcomed the family's safe return home. i'm going to ask people to respect their privacy and understand that they have been through an extremely

difficult period right now, but i can certainly say that we're pleased that the ordeal they have been through over the past years has finally come to an end. questions have been voiced by the couple's decision to go to afghanistan at all. butjoshua boyle says he hopes his surviving children can regain some of their lost childhood. ian austen is a journalist for the new york times who's been covering the story. he explained why the family were in afghanistan. for five years, the story was that

they had been backpacking, an unusual place to go on holiday. but now you said that he was a pilgrim, ona now you said that he was a pilgrim, on a mission to help people in taliban to buy territory. he has said that they were in areas that government and private aid groups had failed to penetrate in the past. this came out of the blue, there has been that i never been any suggestion from any group that they we re suggestion from any group that they were affiliated with them, so it appears they were on some kind of self—styled mission to help people in afghanistan. and is conjugated because of his kind of indirect connection with people with quite strong islamist views, his first wife appears to have been an issue for american security officials as mac his first wife is an issue for canadian security officials as well. she is the sister of a child soldier taken she is the sister of a child soldier

ta ken captive in she is the sister of a child soldier taken captive in afghanistan by american forces who was the only canadian detained in gwent animal bay. —— one, b. mr boyle at some point showed up advantage to be a spokesman for the family and ended up spokesman for the family and ended up marrying his sister. theirfather was closely tied to some of the modern, the sister is a very, very out spoken supporter of isis, among other things. and in fact, her brother is still under court order that forbids him to have contact with her. so we had a couple who, there are kind of russians about there, certainly the husband's associations. but notwithstanding that, they were held for five years. —— their questions. and clearly that must have had an impact on them and otherfamily? , must have had an impact on them and other family? , stressful for them, theirfamilies other family? , stressful for them, their families and friends. -- it's

dreadful for them their families and friends. -- it's dreadfulfor them to stop their families and friends. -- it's dreadful for them to stop ms coleman appears to have given birth to four children in captivity, we had only known about three, the fourth without last night was apparently murdered by their captors. in terms of the efforts that have been made by the canadian authorities to get them back over the last five years, how extensive has that been? well, we never know. members of the family at times complained that canada wasn't doing enough, the policy of the canadian government is to never discuss these things. there was no independently verifications up but i spoke to the family, they were full of praise at canada's efforts so it's difficult to say. but the family had given up hope of any sort of rescue attempt. there have been suggestions in the past that that was going to happen but it occurred this week because of american intelligence which is passed on to pakistan. whatever the interest that

mr boyle had in afghanistan before he was kidnapped, he now has the challenge of trying to integrate himself and his wife back into society the other nice litter from for five years and indeed to introduce their children to a country, a culture of which they have really no knowledge. no, no. and i would imagine, it sounds as if in captivity they were eight should the isolated, so the children have very little knowledge of society in general. their world has been their pa rents general. their world has been their parents and their captors for their lifetime. so is going to be very, very difficult for all of them and i think for theirfamily very difficult for all of them and i think for their family as well. everyone is happy to be remakes it but —— to be reunited but tremendously difficult adjustments are going to be have to meet by everyone. he was talking to us from

water when canada. —— from ottawa. the home office is planning tougher prison sentences to tackle acid attacks. the number of incidents has more than doubled in britain in the past five years. ministers are proposing a minimum six month jail term for people who're repeatedly caught carrying acid or other corrosive substances in england, wales and scotland. alexandra mackenzie report begins with pictures showing the physical injuries some victims have been left with. acid attacks can have devastating consequences. there were more than 400 in the uk between november 2016 and april this year, according to police figures. the government wants to give police more powers to prevent such assaults. i think it's really important that we send out a very strong message that carrying a corrosive substance in a public place, unless you've got a really good reason to have it, is just totally unacceptable. speak to any victim of an acid attack and they will be living with lifelong scars. it's absolutely right that we take this as seriously

as any knife attack. under the home office proposals, it would be an offence to possess a corrosive substance in public. there would be a ban on the sale of such substances to anyone under 18, and people caught carrying acid twice in public would receive a mandatory minimum six—month prison sentence if over the age of 18. the proposals and the consultation around them, what it will do, it will allow us to bring more charges and convictions when it comes to carrying the substances, even before they are being used. at the minute, we have to prove the intent, the fact why are you carrying that substance. these proposals change that and put the onus on the person carrying it to explain why they have a reasonable or lawful excuse to have it in a particular set of circumstances. in london, police are being issued with test kits to check the contents of suspicious bottles of liquid. they are also being given protective gloves and water bottles so they can treat victims quickly.

together with the proposed new laws, officers hope it will help prevent more attacks. earlier i spoke to rory geoghegan, a former metropolitan police officer, who is now at the centre for socialjustice. he's been telling me he why he thinks the new plans will make a significant difference. at the centre of social justice we have been arguing this for some time, and with an mp in east ham, stephen timms. it is a horrific form of attack and the law has failed to keep pace with what has worked itself into the criminal culture in london and elsewhere. when it was first mooted when the figures came out, we had a series of very nasty attacks in london. one of the points made, it is not a new problem, one that is almost victorian. it was used a lot in victorian england by criminal gangs. it seems to flare up every so often.

this is the latest? i think you can go back as far as you like and find corrosive or other substances thrown at people. now, there is a real concentration. one in four in the last five years or so have been in one part of east london. the risk is, if we do not tackle this, it will seek further into the criminal culture. gangs think, it is easier to get acid, lesser sentence. notjust physical damage, as we saw in the report, but life—changing psychological damage. in terms of evidence for this, the difficulty is that you can increase sentences but you can't be certain that deters. you make the point that part of this is about the availability of the substance. that is a much harder thing to tackle.

it is three—pronged. similar to knife crimes. you have to tackle supply, availability of these substances. the consultation promises this and the csj is keen to push on. the other element is to tackle people's risk of getting caught. it is tougher to say that longer sentences deter, but the risk of detection has a deterrent effect. if you have a lucozade bottle, you know you will be searched, something to test, you are less likely to carry that bottle with acid in it. a former senior civil servant in the department for international trade has warned that leaving the eu without a trade agreement would be "a very serious outcome" for the uk. sir martin donnelly said a "no deal" scenario could harm the uk's ability to strike trade deals with other countries. the labour leader, jeremy corbyn has also warned that conservative infighting over brexit was putting britain on a path to "economic disaster". earlier i spoke to our political correspondent jonathan blake and asked him if sir martin's intervention was significant.

this is an intervention from someone who was, until recently, right at the heart of the department for international trade. that's the department which liam fox is in charge of as the secretary of state and tasked with post brexit, striking new trade deals with different countries around the world. also having a hand in negotiating britain's future trading relationship with the eu specifically. now he's a former civil servant. he's not crashing in here and using undiplomatic language and causing a row, he is choosing his words carefully to set out what he sees are the disadvantages, the dangers of ending the brexit negotiations with no deal. he's been clear to say this would lead to a huge amount of legal uncertainty. it will be bad for business, forjobs, for investment in britain. he also was at pains to point out it would make it very difficult for britain to agree future trading relationships with countries beyond the european union, who may see britain as a gateway to the eu in future.

he said that agreeing those deals with other countries would be a long, and at times, difficult process. the americans might raise issues like chlorine treated chicken or hormones in beef or access to our health service. the indians might well say, well, we would like more visas for it workers. some asian countries might want more recognition of their safety and product standards. all of these raise complex issues. sol product standards. all of these raise complex issues. so i think it's a mistake to think that there are some quick and easy alternative to the european union. obviously, overtime, to the european union. obviously, over time, things change, to the european union. obviously, overtime, things change, but to the european union. obviously, over time, things change, but that a slow process. when you're talking about agreeing trade deals as other countries, we are of course not there yet, the uk can't former start doing that until we have left the eu. the clock won't begin —— has

begun taking on those negotiations but we are not in that scenario yet, there is a long things to fall into place. labour so far have been critical of the government's strategy, weber leaderjeremy corbyn describes this morning in some of the strongest line budget, used some of the stronger fine widget to criticise the government and saying that they are in danger of sabotaging the negotiations. let's be clear, no deal is the worst possible deal. it would leave us with world trade organisation tariffs and restrictions instead of full access to the european markets we need. the risk would be that key manufacturers leave for the european mainland, taking skilled jobs with them. intact after sector, no deal could prove to be an economic disaster. theresa may's hamlet of chaosis disaster. theresa may's hamlet of chaos is risking a job is not an across britain. —— cabinet of chaos.

the government has responded by saying they want a deep and special partnership with the eu, after brexit they say that is never an‘s interests and they say they are optimistic about achieving it. —— in every‘s interests. but they'll say they need to plan for all scenarios and that often, no deal is better than a bad deal. that was our political responded talking to me earlier. a look at the headlines. a canadian who was kidnapped with his wife and hell for nearly five yea rs by his wife and hell for nearly five years by the taliban in afghanistan say their captors murdered his debut daughter. victims of acid attacks give cautious welcome to the puzzle of mineral gel terence for perpetrators. the oscars meet to discuss response to the accusations of sexual assault by hollywood producer harvey weinstein. britain has said it will defend the international nuclear deal with iran, after donald trump decided he would no

longer endorse it. the us president said iran had already violated the deal and has threatened to abandon the agreement altogether. all the other signatories — including france, china, and germany have said they remain committed to the agreement. as we have seen in north korea, the longer we ignore a threat, the worse that threat becomes. it is why we are determined that the world's leading sponsor of terrorism will never obtain nuclear weapons. the organisers of the oscars are to hold emergency talks later to discuss claims of sexual misconduct against the film producer harvey weinstein. the academy of motion picture arts and sciences, which has awarded 81 oscars to films produced by his company, says the allegations of sexual assault were "repugnant". adina campbell reports. facing possible expulsion from the organisation that catapulted him to stardom, harvey weinstein‘s future

is hanging in the balance. normally known for its glitz and glamour, the academy which organises the oscars will hold an emergency meeting later, rocked by allegations that the man behind some of hollywood's biggest films sexually harassed and assaulted dozens of women. he is someone who is different from the person i knew and the person who was involved for many years in democratic politics, for me and for barack obama and so many of us. he was very helpful and it is just appalling, what is coming out now, and i want to commend the women who are finally stepping forward. the us actress rose mcgowan is the latest woman to accuse harvey weinstein of rape, while some of hollywood's other big names have made sexual assault, groping and harassment allegations, leading to police investigations in both the uk and us.

it has opened up questions about what young aspiring actors are faced with in a fierce industry with a cutthroat culture. before you even step into the room, do i have the right look? are they going to like me because of this? i don't have that. but what if they ask me to do that? i can't do that! ok, maybe i shouldn't go. it sounds crazy, but that is literally the conversation that goes on in your head. harvey weinstein has denied allegations of nonconsensual sex and is now believed to be getting therapy in arizona. rumours are swirling that his film production company could soon be closed or sold, but in a statement his brother bob has rejected those claims, saying business is continuing as usual. 65—year—old weinstein has already been suspended

from the british film academy, bafta, and may face the same fate or worse from the academy later. a short time ago i spoke to dr emma chapman — a campaignerfor an end to sexual harrassment in academia. she explained why women coming forward was a good thing. i'm glad people are starting to be honest but we should not be under any illusions that people have known for a long time that this kind of behaviour is prevalent. people are protecting their brands, forced to take action, but whether it is too little or too late, there is a serious problem affecting a huge number of people. so no small action is useless. the productivity of many industries, and we need to solve that quickly. in terms of the individual experiences that have been related by the women who have made the allegations, a lot it has been about power

relationships in the film world. actors are hired, fired, and in a sense there is no formal structure. the academic world can be different, but a lot of the same or similar problems? you can draw a huge number of parallels between any small professional community. you are, as a woman, disseminated against at every point of the hiring process. there is a huge power imbalance where you have men in senior positions responsible for the career progression of junior women, often on a temporary contracts, for example. it does not take much for a bad egg to exploit that. especially when you have institutions, whether it is a workplace, university, hollywood, it does not take much to prevent the actions.

—— when they are not actually doing much in the first is to prevent the actions. they are blocking justice and preventing people coming forward. the met office has tweeted that ophelia, a hurricane, has strengthened to category three, with peak winds nearing 115 mph — hurricane ophelia has strengthened to a category three storm, as it makes it's way up the atlantic towards the british isles. the republic of ireland has issued a status red weather warning for parts of the country, as forecasters warn the storm could bring gusts in excess of 80 miles per hour to southern counties by monday. currently hurricane ophelia has sustained winds of around 100 mph. it's got all of the characteristics of a hurricane. not that far from our shores, sustained winds of 100 mph at the moment. this storm is going to not be a hurricane as it approaches us, but i'll show you the forecast for the next few days. watch this area of low pressure. when we see a load with isobars squashed together, that means strong winds. it will not be a hurricane but 80 mph gusts or more for the republic of ireland.

on our shores, western areas 70—80 mph during monday. strong winds into scotland. at the same time, south—eastern temperatures will be tropical. up up to 2a degrees because of the tropical air in this weather system. the airchurned up, some heating us hard. presumably, you cannot be precise about where and when it will make landfall? the closer we get, as with any of the weather events, the more confidence we will have in our forecast. the track of the storm has been fairly consistent over the last couple of days, just to the west of ireland, the worst of the impact does look likely to be across the republic of ireland. that would hit before the end of the weekend? early part of monday, monday morning, we suspect. parts of western england, particularly irish sea coast, west wales, northern ireland possibly up to 70—80. eventually perhaps western scotland.

if you have travel plans in these areas, stay in touch with our forecast. we have been talking about hurricanes in the last weeks. it is a particularly bad season? it certainly has been busy. hurricane after hurricane. the thing that is unusual is how far east it is in the atlantic. it forms over what is just to the south west of the azores, where temperatures have been a degree above average, 26 degrees, on the sea surface. plenty to drive the storm. as it drifts towards equal the waters towards us, it ceased to be a hurricane force. but it will still have all the characteristics of a major

storm and that is unusual for this part of the world. i'm just going to bring you some words we're just had from the hurricane centre at meana, the us national hurricane centre, the reporting that a failure is expected to reach britain as a next apparel for tropical cyclone with hurricane force winds. they say this vision is forecast about four days after the sister moved over the british isles. —— dissipation is forecast. so it could be rough, notjust in the republic of ireland but in west of england, on monday morning. we'll keep you up—to—date drop the weekend. —— throughout the weekend to. at least four people have died after a cargo plane has crashed into the sea off the shore of ivory coast. it had taken off the from the main airport in the city of abidjan during a heavy storm. six other people, including french

nationals, were injured in the crash of the antonov aircraft which had ten people on board. hundreds of onlookers gathered at the beach near the crash site, as emergency workers tried to rescue those on board. the aircraft was carrying supplies for the french military. the authorities in california are warning that huge wildfires north of san francisco could spread further, as they're fanned by dry windy conditions. 36 people are known to have been killed in the past week and many more are missing. from california, dave lee reports. these fires have choked california, displacing 90,000 people and destroying more than 5,000 buildings. sir, you've got to go! this footage shows a police officer's view on sunday. he was in the city of santa rosa helping terrified residents evacuate. the next day the city looks like this. we walk and see our neighbourhood, flattened. it looks like a bomb has gone off in our neighbourhood. it's so heartbreaking. the smoky air can be smelt as far as 100 miles away.

this is our wine making facility. the harvest was complete. so all of our grapes were in. over there is our press and our crush pad with the tanks and that was all outside. obviously, you can see it's completely destroyed. police are having to deal with looters seeking to capitalise on block after block of empty homes. some of the biggest fires are showing signs of being contained thanks to the efforts of more than 8,000 firefighters drafted in to help. these firefighters are bracing themselves, weather forecasts suggests more high winds are on the way. this is already the deadliest wile fire in the state's history and it is not over yesterday yet. hello there.

some warm weather and some windy weather to come over the next couple of days. it's certainly been warming up in southern areas today, especially where we had some sunshine. sunny skies by day translate into clear skies overnight, with a few patches of cloud and maybe the odd mist patch. for northern ireland and scotland, more cloud, some outbreaks of rain, a strong wind, maybe galeforce gusts for some exposed spots. temperatures 12—14 degrees, a very mild night indeed. tomorrow, quite a breezy day, particularly in the north—west. outbreaks of rain spreading slowly southwards and eastwards across northern ireland and scotland. england and wales, quite a cloudy start for many but things brightening up, especially in central and eastern areas, where we get the best of the sunshine. temperatures could possibly get as high as 22—23 degrees. but for the start of the new week, we are looking at this. hurricane ophelia, currently in the atlantic, it won't be a hurricane as it reaches our shores but could still bring some very windy weather indeed,

particularly in the west. hello, this is bbc news with shaun ley. the headlines: a canadian kidnapped with his wife and held for nearly five years by the taliban has been talking of their ordeal, including the murder of their baby daughter. tougher sentences for attackers who maim their victims with acid — the government is proposing a shake—up of the law after a spate of attacks. disgraced movie mogul harvey weinstein faces being thrown out of the oscars academy after multiple accusations of sexual assault. the board is holding crisis talks this evening. and batten down the hatches, say the forecasters, as storm ophelia heads for the uk, bringing torrential rain and winds of up to 80 miles an hour. kate silverton will be here with a

full summary of the news in a few minutes, after full details of all the sporting action from olly foster. good afternoon. good afternoon. manchester city are two points clear at the top of the premier league after dismantling stoke at home. pep guardiola's side won 7—2. they were 3—0 up inside half an hour. gabrieljesus opened the scoring. the first of two for him. and though stoke pulled it back to 3—2 early in the second half, city ran riot. kevin de bruyne orchestrating a complete masterclass. the only surprise was that he didn't score. leroy sane, david silva, bernardo silva, raheem sterling, fernandinho were the other scorers. a brilliant afternoon for manchester city. we have to be happy for the

victory, especially the way we played, we had the ball, we don't lose easy balls, we play fast and simple, because that is the best way to play, and that is why i am very pleased. you would have thought that was the result of the day so far, but arguably matching manchester city's result at the etihad was the one selhurst park. crystal palace hadn't scored a league goal all season losing their first seven matches. today they beat the champions chelsea 2—1. wilfried zaha was the match—winner at the end of the first half. they took the lead through an azpilicueta own goal and that ended a 731 wait to find the back of the net. bakayoko had equalised soon after but that zaha goal proved to be the winner. they're still bottom of the table, but it's a start. really enjoyable, i've got to say.

they really deserve to drink in that victory, playing a team with fantastic quality players, and yet i thought we came off the field today having deserved our victory. we created lots of goal chances, and oui’ created lots of goal chances, and our defending was good from the first minute to the last. so it's a very satisfying when. the lunchtime kick—off saw liverpool face fierce rivals manchetser united. the correspodning fixture last season was one of the worst matches of the season and this one wasn't much better. goaless again with both managers accusing the other for being overly negative. adam wild reports. at anfield, you are never too far from a reminder of liverpool's rich past, a club with plenty to remember and cherish. the man they call the king, kenny dalglish, honoured with a stand in his name. but as well as looking back, there was plenty to

looking back, there was plenty to look forward to. a rivalry which has produced unforgettable moments, it was manchester united who took aim first in an attempt to add more. that was missing. at the other end, joel matip's shot wasn't. it took an astonishing save from debbie de gea to stop the reds going ahead. united's big moment came before the break, romelu lukaku's finding space but another goalkeeper in fine form. the second half had even few opportunities. emre can's chance should have given liverpool something. the disappointment around anfield was clear. the day whether club's pass was remembered, but an occasional larger to forget. adam wild, bbc news. ithought, again, three points. unlucky in at least two macro situations, probably three, i didn't see it properly so far. the big chance we had when de gea made a big save, so we are

probably talking about an inch on the boot. a lot of brilliant individual performances.” the boot. a lot of brilliant individual performances. i was ready for them to make an offensive chance, to try more, and then to bring on sturridge, which i was waiting for, but he never did it. he is very offensive, but 90 minutes with the same system, with the same players, he didn't try anything. he was afraid of our counterattack. totte n ha m are still third in the table after their first league win at wembley. they squeaked past bournemouth 1—0. christian eriksen scored the game's only goal in the second half. they had expected to set a premier league attendance record but 73,500 was over two thousand

short of manchester united ten—year—old record set at old trafford. the win was far more important though. we fixed some situations and found better precision. i think the second half was much better, and we created many chances. we suffered and scored the second goal, but i think my team deserved it. it was good enough to win the three points. a couple of other results for you. burnley and west ham drew 1—1. west ham were down to ten men within half an hour after andy carroll was sent off for two yellow cards. burnley coming back to get the draw. swansea beat huddersfield 2—0 — both goals coming from tammy abraham. watford against arsenal has just

kicked off, couple of minutes into that game, and it is goalless. celtic remain top of the scottish premiership — but only on goal difference. they beat dundee 1—0 — olivier nitcham with the goal. aberdeen‘s win at hibernian means they keep up the pressure — sitting level on point with the champions. there were also wins for motherwell and hearts and kilmarnock had their first league win of the season — their new manager steve clarke watched from the stands. there's also fa cup and scottish cup ties being played this weekend. you can find all the results on the bbc sport website. you're up—to—date with all the football. it's the opening weekend in rugby union's european champions cup with bath and harlequins both kicking off their campaigns. it was a tough opener for leicester who've started theirs with defeat in france. they went down 22—18 to racing. patrick cleary reports. the pool stage offers many physical challenges, but dealing with heat

isn't usually one of them. this looked like paris in the springtime, not before, and within three minutes, racing were chasing the silhouettes tigers. from such promising shoots, leicester then wilted. racing have a reputation for signing rugby's big stars. leone nakarawa and racing were rampant. they worked it out to teddy thomas tad third. the tigers now needed their own showman. jonny may is their own showman. jonny may is their wideboy, pick him out on the wing and watch him go. seven tries in seven games. leicesterjust four behind, but the harvard taken its toll. points dried up in the sunshine. the tigers had to make do with a losing bonus point, but in this competition, every point is ha rd this competition, every point is hard earned. patrick geary, bbc news. we have had five games today,

a couple just getting news. we have had five games today, a couplejust getting going. the english champions exeterface the unbeaten pro 1a leaders glasgow. that's later this evening. former world number one maria sharapova has reached her first final since returning from a drugs ban. she beat peng shuai in straight sets at the tianjin open — and will face arnya sabalenka of belarus for the title. old rivals rafael nadal and roger federer will meet in the final of the shanghai masters tomorrow. nadal had a straight—sets win over marin cilic. the world number one has now won 16 straight matches and is looking for his seventh title of the season. that's all your sport by now. i will

be back with sports day at half past six. coming up next for viewers on bbc one is the latest news with kate silverton. good afternoon. a canadian man kidnapped with his pregnant wife in afghanistan has been giving distressing details of the five years they spent in captivity. distressing details of the five joshua boyle and his wife were released earlier this week after being held hostage by islamic militants linked to the taliban. mr boyle told reporters his wife caitlin had been raped, that she had given birth to four children in captivity — one of whom he said, a baby girl, had been murdered. john mcmanus reports. a baby girl, had been murdered. afghanistan. a baby girl, had been murdered. outside a baby girl, had been murdered. the capital many | the outside the capital many parts of the country remain in the grip of islamist militants. it was to hear that canadian joshua islamist militants. it was to hear that canadianjoshua boyle and his heavily pregnant wife caitlin coleman travelled, he says to carry out aid work. but instead the couple

we re out aid work. but instead the couple were kidnapped by members of the haqqani network linked to the taliban. over five years their ca ptors attem pted to taliban. over five years their captors attempted to use them as bargaining chips, releasing a number of videos. in one of them the couple's children can be seen. all four were born in captivity. we are the worst to have a prisoner exchange with. on friday they were finally freed by pakistani forces and arrived in toronto late last night where joshua boyle outlined theirgrim night where joshua boyle outlined their grim ordeal including the horrific murder of his daughter. the stupidity and the evil of the haqqani networks kidnapping of a pilgrim and his heavily pregnant wife engaged in helping ordinary villagers in taliban controlled regions of afghanistan was eclipsed only by the stupidity and evil of authorising the murder of my infant daughter. marta boyle. he said his wife was raped by the militants. the canadian government has welcomed the family's safe return home. i'm going

to ask people to respect their privacy and understand they've been through an extremely difficult period right now. and... but i can certainly say that we are pleased that the ordeal they've been through over these past years has finally come to an end. joshua boyle's pa rents come to an end. joshua boyle's parents described talking to their son to the first time in five years. we were told the wonderful news that oui’ we were told the wonderful news that ourfamily had we were told the wonderful news that our family had been we were told the wonderful news that ourfamily had been rescued. 20 minutes later we were allowed to actually talk with josh. that's the first time in five years. while both sets of grandparents are undoubtedly relieved, caitlin coleman's own father, jim, says his daughter should never have been taken to such a dangerous place. that we are able to build a secure century for our three surviving children... but joshua boyle says he now hopes his surviving children can start again. john mcmanus, bbc news. some of the most powerful figures in hollywood are meeting to consider

the future of harvey weinstein, the film executive facing a string of sexual assault allegations, including rape. the organisation behind the oscars — the academy of motion picture arts and sciences, is considering whether he should be expelled from the academy. is considering whether he should be our correspondent, laura bicker is in la where the meeting is taking place. laura bicker is in la another laura bicker is in la very serious professional development another very serious professional development for harvey weinstein. well, this is a real key moment here in hollywood. the sa member board are meeting to discuss expelling and revoking the membership of one of its most powerful producers. this board includes the like of tom hanks, steven spielberg, whoopi goldberg. harvey weinstein stands accused of physical and sexual abuse dating back decades. he has apologised for some aspect of his behaviour but he denies that the sex was nonconsensual. he's been sacked from his own company, which he

co—founded. and today even his brother has come forward and spoken to the us media saying he denounces this behaviour. he says that he was not aware of any of these claims and he says he will be pleading with the academy to get rid and kick his brother out. ok, laura, thank you. more on that later of course. the us—backed coalition besieging raqqa in northern syria says that remaining fighters for so—called islamic state must surrender or they will be killed. islamic state must surrender syrian members of is have now left the city in a convoy of buses, after reaching a deal with local officials , leaving only foreign extremists holding out. officials , leaving only foreign the coalition has said it expects to see more heavy fighting , but believes the city will be finally captured within days. tougher prison sentences are being proposed to tackle acid attacks. they've more than doubled in britain in the past five years and the home office is proposing a minimum six month jail term for anyone repeatedly caught carrying acid or other corrosive substances in england, wales or scotland. some victims have said that doesn't go far enough.

there are some disturbing images at the start of alexandra mackenzie's report. images at the start acid attacks can have devastating consequences. there were more than 400 in the uk between november 2016 and april this year. between november 2016 the agony of the aftermath of an acid attack in east london in july. of an acid attack in delivery driverjaved hussain said it melted his motorbike helmet, which saved his face from long—term damage. he is calling for tougher sentencing for those involved. tougher sentencing for i started screaming. tougher sentencing for then i realised that's acid. tougher sentencing for i was just screaming on the street. tougher sentencing for crying for water, like, getting more dry and getting more worse. like, getting more dry and i thought my face has been destroyed. i think he should be punished for that, because he wanted to destroy somebody‘s identity, destroy somebody‘s face. destroy the government wants to give police more powers to prevent such assaults.

police more powers to i think it's really important that we send out a very strong message that, you know, carrying a corrosive substance ina public place unless you've got a really good reason to have it is just totally u na cce pta ble. a really good reason to have it is speak to any victim of an acid attack and they'll be living with lifelong scars. it's absolutely right that we take this as seriously as any knife attack. this as seriously as any knife under the home office proposals it would be an offence to possess a corrosive substance in public. a there would be a ban on the sale of such substances to anyone under 18. on the sale of such and people caught carrying acid twice in public would receive a mandatory minimum six—month prison sentence if over the age of 18. if what it'll do is allow us to bring more charges and convictions when it comes to carrying these substances even before they are being used. to carrying these substances even at the minute we have to prove the intent, the fact why you're

carrying that substance. these proposals look to change that. carrying that substance. the home office says victims and survivors are at the heart of everything they're doing to reduce the number of acid attacks. they're doing to reduce but some say the new proposals just don't go far enough and more needs to be done to bring those responsible to justice. london has been worst affected. responsible to justice. and police are being issued with test kits to check the contents of suspicious bottles of liquid. they're also being given protective gloves and water bottles so they can treat victims quickly. gloves and water bottles together with the proposed new laws, officers hope it'll prevent more attacks. officers hope it'll prevent more alexandra mackenzie, bbc news. officers hope it'll prevent more the authorities in california are warning that huge wildfires north of san francisco could spread further , as they're fanned by dry windy conditions. further , as they're fanned 36 people are known to have been killed in the past week and many more are missing. killed in the past week from california, dave lee reports. killed in the past week these fires have choked california,

displacing 90,000 people and destroying more than 5,000 buildings. sir, you've got to go! than 5,000 buildings. this footage shows a police officer's view on sunday. he was in the city of santa rosa helping terrified residents evacuate. of santa rosa helping the next day the city looks like this. we walk and see our neighbourhood, flattened. it looks like a bomb has gone off in our neighbourhood. it's so heartbreaking. in our neighbourhood. the smoky air can be smelled as far as 100 miles away. this is our wine making facility. as far as 100 miles away. this as far as 100 miles away. is where we made all oui this is where we made all our wines. as far as 100 miles away. the harvest was pretty complete. as far as 100 miles away. so all of our grapes were in.

as far as 100 miles away. over there is our press and our crush pad with the tanks and that was all outside. and our crush pad with the tanks obviously, you can see it's completely destroyed. police are having to deal with looters seeking to capitalise on block after block of empty homes. with looters seeking to capitalise some of the biggest fires are showing signs of being contained thanks to the efforts of more than 8,000 firefighters drafted in to help. than 8,000 firefighters these firefighters are bracing themselves, weather forecasts suggest more high winds are on the way. this is already the deadliest wild fire in the state's history and it is not over yesterday yet. fire in the state's history david fire in the state's history lee, bbc news, california football now — and manchester city top the premier league table after thrashing stoke by 7—2 at the etihad. but crystal palace fans will perhaps be singing the loudest this evening. will perhaps be singing wilfried zaha scored the winner will perhaps be singing as bottom of the table palace stunned champions chelsea 2—1 to pick up their first victory — and first goals — of the season. there's more throughout the evening on the bbc news channel.

we'll on the bbc news channel. be back with the late ne ten we'll be back with the late news at ten pm. now on bbc one, it's time for the news where you are. hello. this is bbc news with shaun ley. it's eight minutes to six. the year's biggest literary prize, the man booker award, will be revealed next week. between now and then we'll be previewing the six shortlisted titles here on bbc news. our look at the nominees continues today with george saunders discussing his debut novel lincoln in the bardo, about the us president's reaction to the death of his son william. the idea came from a story that i heard 20 years ago, and the story was that while lincoln was president, his beloved son willie died, and lincoln was so grief—stricken that he actually entered the crypt on several occasions and actually interacted with the body. an exceedingly tall and unkempt fellow was making his way toward us through the darkness. this was highly irregular. it was after hours. the front gate would be locked.

the form of the book was actually a big problem. so finally i settled on a kind of greek chorus approach, where it is basically a series of hundreds of monologues that come from other ghosts in the graveyard, from historical sources both real and invented. here are some examples of actual historical quotes that i used. he was never handsome, indeed, but he grew more and more cadaverous and ungainly month by month. in lincoln's washington: recollections of a journalist who knew everybody by wa crawford. i think in total there is 166 separate voices in the book, and it looks a bit on the page like a play or a screenplay. so it was a great adventure, and i'm glad i stuck with it. sir, friend. am i doing it again? you are. take a breath. all is well. one of the daunting things about this book was that suddenly you've got lincoln in it

as a character, which is kind of like having jesus as a character. so what i finally did is i thought, well, maybe it's not a book about lincoln, it's a book about a father, it's a book about a certain evening, it's a book about grief. and then you can allow yourself to sort of minimise lincoln's screen time a little bit. you know, you don't have to worry too much about the iconic figure. you're doing what fiction writers do, which is through specificity makes the illusion of reality. we had been loved, i say, and remembering us, even many years later, people would smile, briefly gladdened at the memory. and yet? and yet no one had ever come here to hold one of us while speaking so tenderly. ever. george saunders there. and you can see our special live awards programme next tuesday night at 9.30 here on the bbc news channel. time for a look at the weather.

here's ben roach. hello there. some warm weather and some windy weather on the menu over the next few days. a lot of it is because of this. it is unusual to see a fully formed hurricane at this spot in the atlantic, towards the eastern atlantic, but that is exactly what we have. hurricane ophelia a short time ago was a category two storm. it will weaken as it heads in our direction over the next couple of days but still with the potential to bring very windy weather in western areas on monday. ahead of the storm, we're drawing some very warm air up from the south particularly. where we get some sunshine those temperatures have been rising. it wasn't sunny everywhere — cumbria had a lot of cloud — but we are enjoying a fair amount of sunshine for parts of the south—east. as we go into this evening and tonight, where there were sunny skies by day keeping largely clear conditions, some patches of cloud and maybe the odd mist patch. further north and west, northern ireland and scotland, thicker cloud, some outbreaks of rain splashing through, stronger winds and a mild night for all of us, 12—14 degrees.

we begin sunday morning with quite a lot of cloud for western coasts of wales and the south—west of england. but come further east, the midlands, east anglia and the south—east, by 9am you should see some spells of sunshine and those temperatures already lifting readily. across northern england, some patchy cloud, some brightness, particularly to the east of the pennines. always thicker cloud for northern ireland and central and western areas of scotland, with some outbreaks of rain, strong winds as well. could be gales in some exposed spots and through the day this area of rain will only slowly move its way southwards and eastwards. as it goes, it will fizzle, the rain will increasingly turn light and patchy. towards the south, especially the south—east, where there is sunshine, 20 degrees is very achievable. some places will probably get to around 22—23. then we have to catch up with the progress of ophelia. by this stage during sunday night into monday, it will not be a hurricane any more but still, notice the isobars on the chart, the potential for a strong storm indeed. could see wind gusts around 70 mph

through the south—west approaches. some irish sea coasts could get wind gusts up to 80 mph. it will eventually turn windy across scotland as well, but down towards the south—east very different weather, warm southerly wind and highs of 23—24. this is bbc news. i'm shaun ley. the headlines at six: a canadian, kidnapped with his wife and held for nearly five years in afghanistan, speaks for the first time about the ordeal at the hands of the taliban. it's of incredible importance to my family that we are able to build a secure sanctuary for our three surviving children to call a home, to focus on edification and to try to regain some portion of the childhood they have lost. tougher sentences for the perpetrators of acid attacks — victims give a cautious welcome to proposals for minimum jail terms. the fear of going to jail is always a deterrent in some way,

even if it's a small way. so a start is good, is what i'm saying. there's more that needs to be done, but a start is always good. also in the next hour: the hollywood establishment holds crisis talks over harvey weinstein.